SAVICKIS AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT which the Court has also taken into account is whether the lack of entitlement left the individual in question without social cover (see Stummer, cited above, § 108, and Janković, cited above). 213. In view of the above considerations, the Court considers that the assessment of whether the impugned difference in treatment is justified by “very weighty reasons” must be carried out against the background of the wide margin of appreciation to be applied in the circumstances of the present case. (γ) The assessment of proportionality 214. The Court observes, firstly, that the ground for the impugned difference in treatment which was introduced in the transitional provisions of the occupational pension system set up by the Latvian legislature is directly linked with the primary aim relied on by the Latvian Constitutional Court (see paragraph 196 above). The preferential treatment accorded to those possessing Latvian citizenship in respect of past periods of employment performed outside Latvia is therefore in line with that legitimate aim. 215. Secondly, the Court notes that the difference in treatment depended on the possession or, rather the lack, of Latvian citizenship, a legal status distinct from the national origin of the persons concerned and available to the applicants as “permanently resident non-citizens”. In this regard the Court notes, with reference to the Constitutional Court’s judgment, that the status of “permanently resident non-citizen” was devised as a temporary instrument so that the individuals concerned could obtain Latvian citizenship or choose another State with which to establish legal ties (see paragraph 55 above). In this respect, the Court can accept that in the context of difference in treatment based on nationality there may be certain situations where the element of personal choice linked with the legal status in question may be of significance with a view to determining the margin of appreciation left to the domestic authorities, especially in so far as privileges, entitlements and financial benefits are at stake (see, mutatis mutandis, Bah, cited above, § 47). It does not appear from the case file that any of the applicants has ever tried to obtain citizenship of Latvia – the country in which they have already been permanently settled for many years – or that they did so but were met with obstacles. It is clear that naturalisation depends on the fulfilment of certain conditions and may require certain efforts. This does not, however, alter the fact that the question of legal status, namely the choice between remaining a “permanently resident non-citizen” and acceding to citizenship, is largely a matter of personal aspiration rather than an immutable situation, especially in the light of the considerable time-frame available to the applicants to exercise that option (see paragraph 190 above). 216. Thirdly, the difference in treatment only concerned past periods of employment, completed prior to the introduction of the pension scheme in question. The choices made by the Latvian legislature when determining the 71